Abstract: An image stabilizer can steady blurry images. The image stabilizer includes first and second Hall elements and a yoke with a magnet fixed thereto, the yoke including a projected portion to escape magnetic flux from the edge portion of the magnet. In the state in which one of magnets and a coil supporting holder are fixed to a moving frame and in which the optical axis of the correcting lens is matched with the optical axis of the lens system, the first and second Hall elements are moved to the first and second directions so that the first and second Hall elements are properly positioned at the positions in which magnetic force received by the two Hall elements from the magnet becomes a reference value, whereafter the other of the magnets and the coil supporting member are fixed to a supporting frame.

Abstract: A display control apparatus includes an image creating section creating a first image having a predetermined number of drawing areas each onto which a thumbnail image is drawn, and an erasing section erasing at least one drawing area from the first image in response to an instruction from a user to display the first image. The number of drawing areas erased is the same as a number that is determined by subtracting the number of thumbnail images to be drawn in the first image from the predetermined number of drawing areas of the first image. The apparatus also includes a drawing section drawing a thumbnail image in each of the unerased drawing areas remaining in the first image, and a display controlling section controlling display of the first image including the thumbnail image drawn in each drawing area.

Abstract: An electronic apparatus includes: a case body having a battery storing portion formed of a concave portion whose shape is approximately corresponding to an external shape of a battery unit and a sliding member slidably supported on a surface of the case body on the opposite side to the battery storing portion. The battery storing portion has a width corresponding to that of the battery unit, a length corresponding to a length of the battery unit, and a body-side connection terminal connected to a connection terminal of the battery unit. The sliding member includes one or more engagement claws penetrating through the case body, projecting to the inside of the battery storing portion, capable of being engaged with engagement convex portions provided in the battery unit, and a biasing member causing the claws to be biased away from the body-side connection terminal and engaged with the engagement convex portions.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a signal processing apparatus, including: extraction means for extracting a feature quantity indicative of characteristics of sounds represented by a sound signal, the sounds including different tones from within a 12-tone equal temperament and being arranged in an order of a musical scale based on a reference sound having a predetermined tone; and root decision means for receiving the feature quantity and deciding whether the reference sound is a root of a first chord of the arranged sounds, the decision being based on the feature quantity.

Abstract: A video signal processing apparatus able to obtain a suitable still image from a squeezed video signal, including a converting unit configured to judge whether or not a video signal has been squeezed based on an input video signal and aspect information indicating the aspect ratio of the video signal and to inverse-squeeze it to the designated video signal when judging that it was squeezed as a result of the judgment to convert it to a video signal of a still image of a prescribed image size and a still image recording and/or reproduction unit configured to record the video signal of the still image converted by the converting unit.

Abstract: An external module for use with a host television device consistent with certain embodiments wherein the host television device receives at least one content service has a connector for attaching to the module. Java™ code is received from the content service being received by the host television device over the connector. An application execution engine residing on the external module carries out execution of the Java™ code. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

Abstract: A backlight unit for use in a liquid crystal display device is disclosed. The backlight unit which may include a reflection plate; a plurality of fluorescent tubes; and a diffusion plate. The reflection plate may include a rectangular-shaped bottom plate section, four side plate sections respectively formed upright from four sides of the bottom plate section with a skew in the direction of moving away from the bottom plate section, and an edge plate section that protrudes from a tip end of each of the side plate sections toward outside thereof.

Abstract: A remaining battery capacity indicating apparatus includes an end voltage accumulated value setting unit operable to set an accumulated value indicative of a remaining capacity of a lithium-ion secondary battery, the accumulated value being set in a fully charged state of the battery so that the accumulated value reaches zero when a voltage in the battery is a device-side end voltage. It is determined whether a battery-side end voltage which ends discharges from the lithium-ion secondary battery corresponds to the device-side end voltage. If the battery-side end voltage does not correspond to the device-side end voltage, then the accumulated value is corrected in response to the device-side end voltage. A remaining capacity of the battery, corresponding to the device-side end voltage, is calculated based on the corrected accumulated value, and the calculated remaining capacity of the battery is displayed on a display unit.

Abstract: A zoom lens including a broad picture angle of 60 to 100 degrees as a photographic picture angle of the wide-angle end state, and having a magnification ratio of about three to six times, small front gem diameter, excellent compactness and high image formation performance, which is used in a video camera or a digital still camera, and an image pick-up apparatus using such a zoom lens. A zoom lens (20), consisting of plural groups and serving to change group spacing or spacings to thereby perform a magnification changing or adjusting operation, comprises a first lens group GR1 having positive refractive power, a second lens group GR2 having negative refractive power and a third lens group GR3 having positive refractive power which are arranged in order from the object side, and a last group GRR arranged at the side closest to the image surface and having negative refractive power, wherein the first lens group GR1 is constituted by single positive lens G1, and satisfies the following conditional formulas. 0.

Abstract: A manufacturing method of a solid-state imaging device includes: forming a first and second insulating films having different properties on a silicon substrate such that they cover sides of gate electrodes formed on the silicon substrate; subjecting the second insulating film to selective etching, and forming sidewalls on the sides of the gate electrode; subjecting the gate electrode having the sidewalls formed to ion implantation; covering the gate electrode having the sidewalls formed and forming a third insulating film on the silicon substrate; covering with a mask material part of the gate electrodes covered with the third insulating film, and subjecting the substrate to etching to remove exposed third insulating film; and, after removing the mask material, forming a metal film capable of forming a silicide on the silicon substrate such that the metal film covers the gate electrodes and the third insulating film to form a silicide layer.

Abstract: The invention relates to a telephone set comprises a connection apparatus to execute a connecting process for enabling transmission and reception of an information signal to and from a home appliance such as a general audio device remote-controllable by radio communication; a control apparatus for generating, upon arrival of an incoming call, a remote control signal such as a pause command to the home appliance; and a radio communication apparatus for sending the remote control signal to the home appliance by radio communication. Thus, upon arrival of an incoming call at the telephone set, the remote control signal is sent to the audio device or the like either directly from the telephone set or via a communication adaptor installed therein, hence pausing or muting the output of the audio device under remote control. Such control action enables a user to perceive the incoming call with facility.

Abstract: A short-circuit charge-sharing technique which allows charge-sharing between two or more circuits with a simple shorting transistor controlled to achieve the desired operating voltage levels. The shorting transistor which can be either a P-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (PMOS) or an N-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (NMOS) device and can be controlled utilizing the same clock that enables the drive of the signals between which charge-sharing occurs. In operation, the desired operating voltage levels can be regulated by increasing and decreasing the pulse width of the control circuit output to the gate of the shorting transistor.

Abstract: An objective function and a constraint expression are established by a scheme of the invention as conditions for selecting advertisement information to be inserted into a slot in a content. The objective function is used to maximize a total of cost values held by the advertisements selected to be inserted into slots. The constraint expression is used to equalize totaled lengths of the selected advertisements with the length of the slots. The objective function and constraint expression making up the selection conditions are solved as a mathematical programming assignment problem, whereby advertisement information is selected for insertion into predetermined slots in a manner maximizing the benefits of the parties participating in the scheme. In a setup of moving picture streaming distribution, the scheme allows suitable advertisement information to be inserted selectively into slots of contents.

Abstract: In a regional attribute determination method for determining a regional attribute representing an attribute of people gathering in each region, user information including the locations and attributes of a number of users is acquired from a number of portable information terminal devices used by the number of users, the acquired user information of the number of users is stored in a user information storage part, and the regional attribute is determined on the basis of the user information of the number of users stored in the user information storage part.

Abstract: A reflective screen includes a light reflecting layer, and a light diffusing layer provided on the light reflecting layer. The light diffusing layer has the diffusion property that in one (A axis) of two perpendicular axial directions on a light diffusion plane, a luminance distribution curve versus incidence angle is asymmetric with respect to the zero-incidence-angle axis, and the side on which the incidence angle (half-luminance incidence angle) with half of a peak luminance on the A axis in the normal direction to the screen plane is small faces in a direction in which external light has the highest strength.

Abstract: A transfer method includes the steps of placing a donor substrate including a support base and a transfer layer provided on the support base onto a receptor substrate such that the transfer layer faces the receptor substrate, evacuating a space between the receptor substrate and the donor substrate that are placed one on the other, and transferring the transfer layer onto the receptor substrate by applying a radiant ray onto the donor substrate in an evacuated atmosphere.

Abstract: The method of the present invention includes an exposing step in which a laser beam for recording modulated by an information signal corresponding to an information signal of an information concave and convex pattern formed on the optical disc is applied to an inorganic resist layer 101 formed on a substrate 100 to form an exposed pattern corresponding to the information concave and convex pattern on the optical disc, and a development step in which a concave and convex pattern corresponding to the information concave and convex pattern by the inorganic resist layer is formed. By applying a laser beam for estimation to a predetermined area on the inorganic resist layer in the exposing step to estimate recorded signal characteristics of the exposed pattern by the inorganic resist layer using reflected light of the laser beam for estimation, and controlling power of the laser beam for recording based on the estimated result, the aimed information recording on the optical disc can reliably be obtained.

Abstract: A control unit (15) of a virtual program table producing apparatus (2) produces users program viewing inclination information on the basis of a program viewing history of a user stored by a storage unit (12) accumulated in a data base (11) for storing a program viewing history of a program viewed by a user, classifies users into a group on the basis of individual information of a user, produces group program viewing inclination information showing that each group views what program from the program viewing history of a user belonging to each group, organizes each program broadcast in a plurality of real channels having a predetermined frequency band in a virtual channel virtually having a frequency band owned by the plurality of real channels on the basis of the user's taste, the user program viewing inclination information and the group program viewing inclination information, fetches program information of a virtual channel organized from the data base (11) for accumulating program information which is attr

Abstract: A data recording and reproducing apparatus has facilities for recording and reproducing, inputting and outputting, and editing data and can perform edits by itself. The data recording and reproducing apparatus records AV data inputted from an input port on HDDs by using a recorder and reproducer, and outputs data reproduced from HDDs by the recorder and reproducer through an output port. In an editor inputted is data inputted from outside and data reproduced by the recorder and reproducer. The editor performs edits on at least either of the data above by using a matrix switcher and an audio mixer provided therein. A special effector is utilized as necessary. The editor can output data obtained through editing processing to a switch.